City Council approves new liquor license for recreation facilities

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A new liquor license class approved by City Council last week allows indoor recreation facilities to serve alcohol.

The license was brought to council after the owner of Quad Indoor Sports, 2454 Oakton St., went to the city to inquire how they could get a liquor license for their domed practice field facility. No existing license class would have done the job, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz said.

Bill Kindra, one of the owners of Quad Indoor Sports, said the liquor license would help them expand their business.

“Our target is the adults and the leagues that they play in,” he said. “We’re looking for the added revenue … We’re also looking to draw a wider group of customers.”

Quad Indoor Sports is hoping to increase the number of adult sporting leagues who use the facility, Kindra said.

Quad Indoor Sports opened in February of this year. Patrons will be able to take food and drink into the spectator area, but not onto the field, Kindra said. The facility includes a lobby with a concession stand serving fare such as pizza and hot dogs. There is a turf field in the building, with a large glass wall separating the field and the spectator area, Kindra said.

The license also limits facilities to only serving beer or wine. Kindra said serving alcohol will be an “amenity” to their patrons.

According to the ordinance, patrons will not be able to buy more than two drinks in a day.

“We want to make sure people don’t abuse the alcohol (and) the facility,” Kindra said.

The license includes other limitations. Alcohol can only be served between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays. Additionally, recreational facilities can only serve alcohol if they “provide expanded food service” including sandwiches flatbreads and other a la carte items, according to the ordinance.

This is the second liquor license class to be approved by the council in the past two months. A liquor license class to allow for the sale of cider was approved for North Shore Cider Company, last month. Bobkiewicz said the city has a unique range of businesses that serve alcohol.

“Ironically having been dry here, until 1973, we have a wide variety of businesses that have alcohol as part of what they do,” he said. “It’s great that we have all these unique uses that perhaps many other communities don’t have.”

Bobkiewicz said creating new, specific, liquor licenses was not only cost-free, but allows the city to limit the possibility of illegal uses of alcohol.

“Other communities have seen, when they try to do something like that, sometimes that’s when abuses occur,” he said. “From a liquor control perspective, it’s better to have licenses that are very specific and very tailored to the use, rather than trying to fit everyone into a small number.”